4 Tips from a Professional Coach on How to Work Without Losing Yourself

As work, home, and family demands accelerate in the fall, it can feel like we’re in the passenger seat of a race car. With no hands on the wheel we are speeding around each corner, barely reacting to what comes next. It’s easy to lose track of ourselves and our time. 

Here are four workday recommendations that can keep you in the driver’s seat, eyes focused on the road:

1. Begin your day with intentional focus, not “lost time.” 

Resist beginning your day checking your email or news/social media feeds. This is a sure-fire way to lose time to reactive vs. proactive tasks. 

Start with your phone turned over and the computer dark. Take a moment to breathe and envision what’s on your plate:   

• What’s important today and this week, at work and at home? 

• What are your top 3-5 priority tasks today?  

Post these where you can see only them apart from your other to-do’s or circle them on your list. 

It can also be helpful to create a side-by-side work and home list. This can help keep your  ‘home tasks’  from intruding into your thoughts while working.

Then, think about the qualities that you want to “call in'' to show up for these tasks.  For example, call in your inner “CEO” qualities of persistence and courage.  These are your “to be’s” that bolster your “to dos”.

2. Set a timer before checking emails or social media:  

If reviewing social media or emails is part of your daily work, put structure to this time. Set a timer for the amount of time you want to give to this and honor the alarm when it goes off.  If you need more time, set the timer again.  The average time spent on social media is 147 minutes a day —it’s easy to lose ourselves in it and then wonder what happened to our day.  

Emails and text messages can also hijack our plans when we respond to requests from others that don’t fit with your priorities for the day. Instead, flag emails that you want to return to later, and when you do focus on those emails, consider using your computer vs. your phone to minimize distractions.

“Most of us major in minor things.” Our phones and computers can take us down “minor” paths that consume our time and steal our ability to focus. (Did you know it takes 23 minutes to refocus after a distraction?)  

3. Pause throughout your day: 

If you are feeling swept away by your day, stressed, or out of control? Pause. Take a few deep breaths, hand on belly or heart.  Elongate your spine, lift your chin. This type of body-based action gets you and your attention back to the current moment. Pauses are conscious interruptions. They interrupt our tendencies to just “go through the motions”.  

You may feel like you’re too busy to “pause”. Paradoxically, it saves us time by calming our mind and inviting us back to intentional, proactive action. You can even set alarms or reminders on your phone to remind you.

4. Reset and Redirect:  

Notice you’ve been off-task?  Stop and ask yourself, “What’s important now?” Then begin again. No self-judgment.  
Here’s your invitation to grab the wheel and consider where you want to go before you start, then, go! Hit the gas, trusting you will make it to the destination with the best you in the driver’s seat.